One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant sunflowers by checking out the USDA zone info for Martinsville.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

Frost tolerance for sunflowers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant sunflowers until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Martinsville is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sunflowers may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your sunflowers indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Martinsville. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Martinsville may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Martinsville it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your sunflowers if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Martinsville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Martinsville

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Martinsville.